THE PROCESS BEHIND ‘THE INSIDIOUS WHISPER’

Part 2 by David Denton

USE OF PHOTOGRAPHIC REFERENCE

When I was in the planning and painting stages of ‘The Insidious Whisper’, I used photographic reference

from locations around the Doncaster area in the UK.

The majority were taken in a particularly foggy week in October 2015.

Here is the main building in its practically undamaged form. This was mirrored in my original plan.

This wall, building and tower were also mirrored in my original plan. All that remains in the final painting is the building.

This composite of 9 photos was my main reference for the background although I used less than half of it.

This composite of 9 photos was my main reference for the background although I used less than half of it.

I loved this watchtower shrouded in fog so much that I added it to the left hand side of the plan.

I used this concrete block in the final image but I chopped it down to half its normal height.

As reference for the huge figure, I made cardboard buildings to scale and took photos of myself interacting with them.

After I had drawn this rough plan, I started on a more accurate version with the correct perspective.

I scanned my drawing into Photoshop and continued to add more features. I did this so that I could quickly change elements,

such as the tentacles, as I tried different things.

A Photoshop feature that really helps the drawing process is the ability to flip an image (you could use a mirror). Try it, any flaws

will be obvious. I work for a while on one version, flip it, do some more work on that, then flip it again. I repeat this until I

am happy with the final drawing.

Rather than copying the photos exactly, I made changes where necessary. I enlarged the hands

to make the figure appear to be coming towards the viewer and

added destruction to the buildings.

You may have noticed that the face in the plan is very different to the one in the final painting. We will look at that in Part 3.

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